Put This Project On The Menu

More than a dozen new restaurants have opened in Hartford this year. When the Connecticut Convention Center is completed next year, even more visitors will be looking for places to eat.

It seems like an ideal time for the Farmington-based Connecticut Culinary Institute to proceed with plans to open a campus in Hartford.

Months ago the institute was set to buy the vacant Hastings Hotel and Conference Center from Aetna Inc. That promising deal ran into snags, including a hefty price tag of about $10 million, lack of sufficient parking and high property taxes. A key investor also pulled out.

But the parties should not give up. The culinary school is growing fast and would like to bring 500 students to the Hastings, where several teaching kitchens would be added. Such an influx promises to boost both the Asylum Hill neighborhood and nearby downtown.

The school has big plans for the vacant property if it can swing the deal. It wants to sponsor wine tastings, art shows and other events; open a store to sell goods from its kitchens; and reopen one or two floors as hotel space. Other rooms would be used as student housing.

There's some urgency because the school's Farmington lease runs out at the end of this year. Short term, the institute might add capacity at its Suffield campus to handle a steady enrollment increase.

Hartford should not let this delicious deal slip through its fingers.

If Aetna, the city, neighbors, investors and the culinary institute work together, they should be able to overcome the remaining obstacles. One possibility: How about a lease agreement with an option to buy? Aetna has indicated it is willing to consider various options, a healthy sign that compromise is possible.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested downtown in the belief that Hartford has a bright economic future. Using the vacant Hastings Hotel and Conference Center for a first-class culinary school would boost the city's ``Rising Star'' image.